Night Out
I just got back from diner, and you know, I think this was the first time I went out to dinner by myself; and it was in Shanghai. I had been surviving on scraps and cup of noodles, but I wanted to try real Chinese food, since they don't seem to have a Panda Express here. The waitress did everything but roll her eyes, and was clearly not happy to be waiting on the foreigner. That's what they call us here, and it seems like an insult but I don't think they mean it that way. Even when getting through customs at the airport, there where two lines, one labeled "Chinese Nationals", and the other "Foreigners". Anybody not Chinese gets lumped into that group.
I almost felt like a child. They have a "special" English menu, and when you tell her what you want, she starts rummaging through a deck of about 200 cards with pictures of the various dishes. She had the whole table covered until she finally found the picture of the dish I ordered. I felt bad for her, as she clearly was not enjoying the multicultural experience.
It was uncomfortable but I'm glad I did it. I got the Curry Chicken, and it was very tasty. It looked like they took the whole chicken and just hacked it up with a clever, and put it on a plate. I was picking out bones and other hard stuff, but the chicken part was very good. The whole meal which included a huge Quang Dao beer, and some stemmed rice, only set me back about 6 bucks. In the states that meal, plus tip, would have been $35 easy. She didn't invite me out for tea.
Posted 7 PM Wednesday, October 29th.
I almost felt like a child. They have a "special" English menu, and when you tell her what you want, she starts rummaging through a deck of about 200 cards with pictures of the various dishes. She had the whole table covered until she finally found the picture of the dish I ordered. I felt bad for her, as she clearly was not enjoying the multicultural experience.
It was uncomfortable but I'm glad I did it. I got the Curry Chicken, and it was very tasty. It looked like they took the whole chicken and just hacked it up with a clever, and put it on a plate. I was picking out bones and other hard stuff, but the chicken part was very good. The whole meal which included a huge Quang Dao beer, and some stemmed rice, only set me back about 6 bucks. In the states that meal, plus tip, would have been $35 easy. She didn't invite me out for tea.
Posted 7 PM Wednesday, October 29th.
posted by Unknown at
3:41 AM
2 Comments:
Cards with pictures of food on it? That's fantastic! "I'll see your curry chicken, and raise you an egg foo young".
Or go through each card: "okaayy.. not this, not this, not this, not this .."
The pictures of the fences are really cool, and I love the building with all the A/C boxes hanging outside. I wonder many of those have come loose and fallen joggers?
Can you take a picture of your Starbucks? It would be neat to get a pic of the old guy and his grandchild.
Have you tried doing Tai Chi in the park with the old folks? You should show up wearing parachute pants, a doo rag, and a boom box, and start break dancing.
Jogging? In Shanghai? That would be like trying to run on the 91 freeway on a Friday at 5PM, while breathing through a hose attached to a car's tailpipe. Only not that nice.
Yeah, I will definitely try to get a picture of Grand Pa and his baby girl.
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